The Karnataka State Contractors’ Association has criticised the State government for non-clearance of pending bills and has set a 30-day deadline to clear all of them, failing which they have threatened to launch a protest across the State.
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D. Kempanna, President of the Association, held a press conference on Friday (Oct. 13) and said while earlier the pending bills were to the tune of about ₹25,000 crore, now that all departments had started making some payments, the current pending bills were tough to estimate.
Haphazard payments
Mr. Kempanna said that while payments were withheld in some departments due to ongoing investigations, in most departments, payments were haphazard and did not honour seniority. While some departments have cleared nearly 75% of the bills, others have cleared only 7% of pending bills.
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“We appeal to all departments to honour seniority to ensure there is no discrimination and interference,” he said. He further said only the Public Works Department, led by Minister Satish Jarkiholi, was following seniority in clearing bills.
Responding to a question by media on whether bill payments that don’t honour seniority pointed to corruption, Mr. Kempanna said that unlike under the previous regime when several contractors gave them written complaints on demands for kickbacks, no contractor had complained of the same under the new government.
“It has been over five months since this government came to power, and our problem has only intensified. We request the Chief Minister, who also holds charge of finance, to chair a meeting and resolve this issue,” Mr. Kempanna said.
‘Contractors should not worry’
Responding to this, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said that Mr. Kempanna should not worry over pending bills as the government had started clearing them and will do so over time. “If the contractors have any issues, they should meet us. We will ensure they get justice,” he said.